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Posted by Mike Florio...DirecTV CFO Pat Doyle said at a Wednesday investors conference that, if the price goes up too high when the current NFL Sunday Ticket deal expires after the 2014 season, DirecTV would consider “striking a non-exclusive deal with the NFL or possibly even dropping the popular package,” writes the Hollywood Reporter, via SportsBusiness Daily.

The fact that there’s no new deal only two seasons away from expiration of the current contract isn’t a good sign, given that the NFL usually extends these things years in advance. ...

I am not that worried about it for now. I have read over and over again that the NFL does not want it available to all providers as it would lower their worth with the local channels. In the past the Cable Co's didn't have the capacity to run it and Dish Network is too cheap to get it. I don't see it leaving DirecTV soon.

...DirecTV CFO Pat Doyle said at a Wednesday investors conference that, if the price goes up too high when the current NFL Sunday Ticket deal expires after the 2014 season, DirecTV would consider “striking a non-exclusive deal with the NFL or possibly even dropping the popular package,” writes the Hollywood Reporter, via SportsBusiness Daily.

The fact that there’s no new deal only two seasons away from expiration of the current contract isn’t a good sign, given that the NFL usually extends these things years in advance. ...

cable will need to do a lot of work to fit it in.

Directv will lose a lot bars if they drop the ticket. and cable can't cover all the areas that directv does.

Didn't the price come down last season because of the NFL Net's Thursday night games, NFLST had less inventory to offer? I don't see where the NFL has a lot of negotiating room to demand a significant increase in the fees paid to it for ST.
Could this be another attempt by D* to lessen its desire to keep the sports fan happy? As fees rise, D* could be positioning itself to pass on more sports programming, and appeal to a more general audience; keep the fees down by limiting what's available on its system.
I don't begrudge them if that's their plan going forward, just let us know.

Could be a good thing if DIRECTV didn't have exclusive rights anymore, maybe a pricing battle between DIRECTV and the cable/telco's.

Not saying there is no chance of this happening but I have read a few times over the years that the NFL is the one that wants it exclusive. To many options for the package lowers the NFL's worth in other areas and it was not worth it to them. I am sure DirecTV see's that it is a big draw for them as well. They seem to have alot of installs around that time of year. I do think there could be more gained if the price was lowered but that is not by decision.

Id leave if it left Directv, but Id stay if it was like MLB Extra Innings.

I would strongly consider leaving if DirecTV lost Sunday Ticket but it would have to be with another provider that made sense. I mean, the cable co here would never get it and if they did, their 20 hour cap on a HD DVR does nothing for me. I would probably try to find another way to watch the games. Hopefully if it comes to that, there will be a way to stream them with a RoKu box or PS3 or something of that nature.

I would strongly consider leaving if DirecTV lost Sunday Ticket but it would have to be with another provider that made sense. I mean, the cable co here would never get it and if they did, their 20 hour cap on a HD DVR does nothing for me. I would probably try to find another way to watch the games. Hopefully if it comes to that, there will be a way to stream them with a RoKu box or PS3 or something of that nature.

I agree, and to clarify what I said was Id stay if it went non exclusive like Extra Innings and the other packages. If its like mlb.tv, then its a whole different story.

I think D* will still maintain the upper hand even if they renew NFLST on a non-exclusive basis.

1. D*'s HD is unmatched.2. Could CableCos from coast to coast really alter their infrastructures to accommodate the capacities needed for NFLST for a few months out of a whole year?3. Fios and Uverse is good on technology and PQ, but distribution is comparatively limited and will be so for the foreseeable future.4. We all know E*'s stance on paying for anything.

The availability of Sunday Ticket remains of central importance to me as an 18-year DirecTV subscriber. It truly would prove a cosmic jape that as DirecTV finally is presenting most of the channels I desire in HD it would lose broadcast rights to NFL games, thereby obviating the ability to follow – albeit often in despair – my beloved Eagles.

I think D* will still maintain the upper hand even if they renew NFLST on a non-exclusive basis.

1. D*'s HD is unmatched.2. Could CableCos from coast to coast really alter their infrastructures to accommodate the capacities needed for NFLST for a few months out of a whole year?3. Fios and Uverse is good on technology and PQ, but distribution is comparatively limited and will be so for the foreseeable future.4. We all know E*'s stance on paying for anything.

shaw / rogers and others use MPEG 4 and or SDV to fit in Sunday Ticket and 9-15+ NHL CI HD feeds.

Don't count the larger cable companies out, they now have, or will have, the bandwidth to carry it. The only problem is not all areas of the country can get cable, and not all cable companies have the bandwidth to add it.

IMHO this is just an early negotiating tactic by D*. The exclusivity has helped D* gain high revenue subscribers for years and they don't want to lose that. Of course, if the NFL wants an outrageous rights fee increase, I can see the argument against renewing. But D* will surely argue that between the Thursday night package and Red Zone, ST is worth less than in the past.